Ninth Circuit
Ninth Circuit Upholds South Coast Zero-NOx Emission Standard for Appliances
The Ninth Circuit limiting EPCA preemption is a huge and important win for clean air.
Last fall I wrote about a strangely important case about boilers, in which the Ninth Circuit would decide whether a challenged zero-NOx air emission standard adopted by LA’s air regulator was lawful. The case is important because it had the potential to significantly constrain the ability of air pollution regulators to do their jobs and …
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CONTINUE READINGDeciding a Climate Case in the Shadow of the Supreme Court
Juliana Judges Surely Had The Higher Court in Mind in Drafting Their Decision
The irony of the Ninth Circuit decision dismissing the Juliana v. United States case this week is plain to see. Two branches of government — the legislative and executive – have failed to act to address an environmental problem that may cause the destruction of the federal government itself. The third branch, the judiciary, recognizes the …
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CONTINUE READINGBreaking News: Ninth Circuit Upholds California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Does California’s life cycle analysis of the carbon intensity of transportation fuel facially discriminates against out-of-state ethanol?
In a sweeping victory for the California Air Resources Board, the Ninth Circuit today issued an opinion in Rocky Mountain Farmers Union v. Corey upholding the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and reversing a lower court ruling that the LCFS facially discriminated against interstate commerce in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The court also vacated the …
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CONTINUE READINGShark Fins, Federal Preemption & the Ninth Circuit–An Update
Last week I wrote about an interesting, pending lawsuit involving a constitutional challenge to California’s recently-enacted ban on the sale, possession or trade of shark fins. Asian restauranteurs and cultural advocates who’d filed the lawsuit and failed in their earlier efforts to persuade the federal district court to enjoin the law appealed that ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for …
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CONTINUE READINGFeds Argue California’s Shark Fin Ban Is Preempted in Third-Party Litigation
In 2011, the State of California enacted a ban on the sale, possession and trade of shark fins. California’s ban follows similar laws passed by Hawaii, Washington and Oregon over the past few years. The legislation, codified as California Fish & Game Code sections 2021 and 2021.5, followed years of advocacy by marine conservation groups, …
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CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Rejects Water Agency’s “Area of Origin” Water Rights Claim
Responding to the current drought conditions confronting California, state and federal water project officials have announced cutbacks in anticipated water deliveries this summer and fall from both the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project. It’s with that sobering backdrop that a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit …
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CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit takes up NRDC v. Salazar en banc
The Ninth Circuit today issued an order granting rehearing en banc in NRDC v. Salazar, meaning that an 11-member panel will now reconsider the 3-judge panel decision issued last July. (Hat tip: Endangered Species and Wetland Report.) This is very good news, because the (split) panel decision was wrong in important respects. (Full disclosure — …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat to expect in the logging roads case
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. This coming Monday, Dec. 3, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the logging roads case. The case involves two consolidated petitions, Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center and Georgia Pacific v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center , both challenging the same decision of the Ninth Circuit, Northwest Environmental Defense Center …
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CONTINUE READINGPreviewing This Week’s Constitutional Battle Over California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard
On Tuesday morning, October 16th, attorneys will gather at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s majestic courthouse in downtown San Francisco to argue one of the nation’s most important, currently-pending environmental cases. The case is Rocky Mountain Farmers Union v. Goldstene, and the issue is the constitutionality of California’s Low Carbon Fuel …
CONTINUE READINGNinth Circuit Finds Public Nuisance Lawsuit Unavailable to Address Climate Change Impacts on Threatened Native Alaskan Village
Today, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion affirming a federal district court decision to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Native Alaskan Village of Kivalina that sought damages from oil and electric power companies whose greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to climate change. Kivalina contended that the companies’ greenhouse gas emissions constituted a public …
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